Saudi Arabia will allow women into three sports stadiums from early 2018

Preparations are on so the currently male-only venues can accommodate families from next year.

Saudi Arabia will allow women into three sports stadiums from 2018, AFP reported.

The kingdom’s General Sports Authority on Sunday said it is starting to prepare three stadiums in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, which are currently male-only, so they can accommodate families from early next year. Restaurants, cafés and video screens will be set up inside the venues, the authority said.

Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has introduced reform plans, including ones to give women more freedom in public. In September, the kingdom said it will lift the ban on women driving in the country from June 2018.

Last week, the crown prince had vowed to focus on eradicating extremism within his kingdom and a return to “moderate Islam”. He said the country was “not like this in the past”. “We will eradicate the remnants of extremism very soon,” he had said. “We represent the moderate teachings and principles of Islam.”